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Key figures

Origin and history

The castle of Viverols, located in the department of Puy-de-Dôme, is a former castle considered the most important vestige of feudal military architecture in the Ambert region. Its origins could go back to the 11th century, where a simple tower was built on order of Jocob de Viverols, before being destroyed by Louis XI. However, it was in the 13th century that the castle took on its present warrior aspect, with its imposing towers designed to protect the mesnie of the lord William III of Baffia, says the old.

The castle was at the heart of the Forez wars, a fifty-year conflict between William III of Baffie and Guy IV of Forez. He claimed forezian lands belonging to Eléonore de Forez, wife of William and half-sister of Guy IV. Guillaume's refusal, invoking his wife's birthright, triggered a series of battles and truces, complicated by the vassalic ties of the time. The enclosure of the castle surrounded a stone dungeon, a probable remnant of a primitive castral motte.

The architecture of the castle reflects its evolution between defensive and residential functions. The north side, the best defended, retains two towers equipped with eleven arches to cover the area. In the post-feudal periods, the east and west fronts were replaced by spacious houses: one for the garrison and receptions, the other for the lord. These houses were served by a large spiral staircase in a corner tower. At the end of the 19th century, a fire partially ravaged the second home.

The castle is also associated with a local legend, The Cursed Girls of Pardon the Black, which tells the curse cast upon three daughters of a lord, transformed into trees overlooking a tower. Until recently, three trees, today uprooted, recalled this legend, where complaints would still be heard on summer nights near the ruins. Since 2019, the owners have been working to open the castle to visitors, especially during the summer months, in order to involve it in local life and its development.

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